


The Only Stars That Are Ours

by midwinterspring



Series: As Certain Dark Things [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Astronomy and cosmology references, But life affirming, Dark Rey (Star Wars), F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Visions, Mentions of avoiding possession, No Pregnancy, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, slight cosmic horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24011380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midwinterspring/pseuds/midwinterspring
Summary: She remembers a double red lightsaber in the darkness, and black silk against her skin.Don't be afraid of who you are.She will not be, ever again.Rey takes Kylo's hand on Kef Bir.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: As Certain Dark Things [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1731745
Comments: 15
Kudos: 59





	The Only Stars That Are Ours

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to @TristenCrone for betaing and to QueenofCarrotFlowers for helpful feedback and flailing!
> 
> Binary star image credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Alves et al.  
> Pipe nebula image credit: ESO

“we shall be stone, borderless night,

unbending love, unending brilliance,

eternal light, buried fire,

pride condemned to its intensity:

the only star that is ours.”

-Pablo Neruda, “XXX” from _Stones of the Sky_ , translated by James Nolan

_Of course he's here._

When Rey reached for the Wayfinder in the ruins of the Death Star, she felt Kylo land on Kef Bir. Now, as he picks it up from where she dropped it, his presence feels like inevitability itself. Part of her feels annoyed. The rest of her is relieved to see him again. He has seen all of her from the beginning. He knows her better than anyone.

The past year with the Resistance had been hard. She cares about them, but it's hard to feel like she belongs. Some of them want her to be their Jedi, and some of them are afraid of her. Or both.

Since Crait, she's rarely gone a day without seeing the burning throne room on the Supremacy, and Kylo offering his hand. She's rarely gone a day without wondering what might have been.

The mirror passage where she found the wayfinder reminded her of the cave on Ahch-To. “Don't be afraid of who you are,” her dark reflection had said. Leia had said something similar as she left Ajan Kloss. She isn't. In the cave, looking for answers outside of herself, she had thought she was all she had.

Except it wasn't true. She isn't alone. Some part of her knows she has never been alone.

Kylo stands across from her holding the Wayfinder, never averting his eyes from hers. Their bond is a low soft hum in the back of her mind.

In two strides she could be right next to him. She could pull out her lightsaber yet again. They could fight yet again. It would be such a terrible waste, but easier than admitting the truth.

Easier until now.

She remembers a double red lightsaber in the darkness, and black silk against her skin.

_Don't be afraid of who you are._

She will not be, ever again.

She is a scavenger. She will use every resource she has. In the rusting hulk of the Death Star, she finds what she needs. There is a new way forward.

She breathes, tapping into her strength, into the shadows she's felt around her all her life. She sees the mouth of the cave again, pulling her forward. She sees herself and Kylo on a throne of dark stone, limbs intertwined.

“You said once you wanted to create a new order in the galaxy with me, that we would rule together.” She can feel something in him uncoil through the bond – the barest beginnings of hope. “I will go with you,” she says. She opens the bond further on her side of it, so he can see she is telling the truth. “I will take your hand.” His eyes widen at that. The hand holding the Wayfinder drops to his side.

“Are you sure?” he asks.

It's not what she was expecting him to say. For all the times she's imagined this, she didn't imagine it this way.

“I am sure,” she says. “Under one condition.”

He knows what is coming next, she can tell.

“A permanent ceasefire with the Resistance. Let them go,” she says.

“They will never let us go.” _Us. He said us._

“And if they don't? Let them remain. Do you think a few dozen malcontents would be a threat to our Empire?” Her voice rings out among the wreckage. She steps towards him, darkness swirling through her Force signature.

His side of the bond opens more fully. She feels his breath catch in his throat in awe. His hands tremble slightly. As much as he said he wanted her to turn, until this moment he didn't understand what it would mean.

There is desire there too. So much. From both of them.

“Give the Resistance less to resist. Give people a reason to ally with us, beyond fear. The First Order is an army, but it could be more.”

He stares at her, his mouth tightening like it did the first time their bond connected them. _Think about it,_ she says through the bond.

 _An empire isn't worth it, without you._ His voice cuts through her.

 _And with me?_ She dares to hope.

_No one would stand against us._

_Isn't that your answer?_

He's so stubborn. She knows it in him because she knows it in herself.

“Very well,” he says. “There will be a ceasefire. The First Order will stop fighting the Resistance. The Final Order fleet, however...is not yet ours to command.”

“Yet,” she says.

He smiles a little at that.

 _Careful,_ he says in her mind. _I recently learned Palpatine has been in my head my whole life, as Snoke, as Vader. He made Snoke. I don't know how much of my thoughts are private, but I know he can't touch our bond._

She is horrified and furious on his behalf.

_Well. Then we will kill him. Together. That is the way one takes power on the Dark Side, yes?_

He is looking at her face with such heat in his gaze. _Stars,_ his lips are red. They are connected enough that she knows he heard her.

He moves toward her at the same time as she moves toward him. He sets down the Wayfinder, peels off his gloves, and drops them. She takes both of his hands in hers, surprisingly warm in this cold, wet place.

“You really want to be with me?” he asks.

“Yes.” She throws her arms around him, and she can feel his hesitation vanish. He holds her tightly, and she pulls his head down for a kiss. She has a vague idea of how this should go, and she can sense that he's inexperienced too. She kisses him like she's starving and she is met with equal hunger. The bond opens wide and it's like coming home. The ruins around them rattle and groan.

After a long time they pull apart. Following the fierceness of the kiss, his eyes are gentle. She is bringing all of herself to this moment, and he is too. Part of him is still Ben, and always will be.

She feels an echo of shame from him. _Don't be afraid of who you are,_ she thinks with a little smile. _It's a strength. We will both be whole._

He doesn't fully smile at that, but it's closer than she's ever seen.

 _The fleet will be leaving Exegol soon,_ he says.

She nods. _Whatever we do, we should do it quickly._

Kylo picks up his gloves and the Wayfinder. _I have a Wayfinder in the Whisper as well. I guess we have a spare._ One side of his mouth quirks up. He hesitates, then gives it to her.

_Is there room in the Whisper for me?_

_We can make it work._

They hop down to another level of the wreckage, and Rey can see where Kylo landed the Whisper. They race and leap across a long metal bridge or gantry, or what remains of it, with waves pounding all around them.

Rey glances at where the Falcon made a hard landing. _I need to send a message. I don't want them shooting at us._

 _Fine,_ says Kylo. She senses a flicker of annoyance from him, but it vanishes as she climbs into the cockpit behind him. Well, more like on top of him. There is only one seat in the Whisper, so she sits on his lap, his arms wrapping around her to use the controls. She leans back into him, the heat and breadth of his chest enveloping her.

The cockpit closes, the life support hisses on, and they take off. He programs in their course and shows her where the communications equipment is. On the Falcon's hailing frequency, she sends, _I'm safe. I'm okay. Don't follow._

She hesitates before putting in to codes to the private all-Resistance channel. She looks at the Wayfinder she holds in one hand, and the second plugged into the TIE's controls. Giving it back to her was a gesture of trust. She will have to trust him far more going forward.

Amending her message, she sends to the Resistance: _This is Rey. I'm safe. You will be safe. Stay far away from Exegol. Goodbye._

Her shoulders drop as she sighs. It's done. Kylo sends his own messages then, telling the First Order to stand down.

_Will they all follow?_

_If they want to live._ Kylo's mental voice is icy.

He sends another message, then tells her. _Allies are on their way. They'll meet us on Exegol._

_Who?_

_The Knights of Ren._

_They'll...fight Palpatine?_

_No. They'll fight his guards, if necessary. We'll take on Palpatine. We need to be careful. I studied some Sith lore with Snoke, and more during the past year. He seeks to preserve his life. Based on what I read of what's possible, he may try to possess one of us._

Rey shuddered.

 _Luke implied that the Light Side of the Force was bigger than the Jedi. Is that true of the Dark Side and the Sith?_ She can feel the Force coiling around her, deep and ancient and mysterious. Who could possibly know all its secrets?

_I'm sure. The Sith have never been the only Darksiders._

_Then there are things Palpatine doesn't know._

_Of course. There is our Dyad for one. The Sith sought to make one, but they never could._

She places her hands lightly over his on the TIE's controls. He didn't put his gloves back on. She feels something in him relax whenever they touch, skin to skin. He bends down and kisses the back of her neck and she shivers in pleasure, goosebumps prickling her skin.

He shows her then how he hid some of his thoughts from Snoke. _We can do the same. A failsafe, for whatever Palpatine tries._

They are breathing in unison now, Rey realizes. She feels their powers amplifying each others', like when they fought the Praetorian guards. It makes sense. They are close to each other, preparing for battle, working together.

 _When this is done, what do you want_? he asks.

_You. Everything. To live somewhere where it's green and it rains._

_We can do that. And you have me. You will always have me, if that's what you want._ His thoughts are laced with sincerity.

_It is. I want to build something new with you._

_That is possible. It won't be easy, though._

_I know._ Nothing has ever been easy for her. Why would she expect this to be different?

_When you said to give people less to resist, you had ideas._

_Yes. Stop the stormtrooper recruitment, for one. Stop taking kids away from their parents. Recruit adults and pay them. You'll get better troops that way, and less rebellion._

_Go on._ She senses amusement from him, but also respect.

_Feed people. Find new sources of food, and make sure people get them._

_Moving from superweapons to farming projects. I can't wait to tell High Command how our priorities have changed._

I'll _tell them, then. And replace them if I need too. Make the food projects prestigious. Fund other projects too – irrigation where it's needed, new energy sources. And we're not getting rid of the military - of course not. But our resources can be better spent on something other than building planet-sized superweapons._

The admiration is open in his thoughts now. _This could work._

_This will work._

He kisses the top of her head. She reaches up and runs her hand through his hair, which is already drying in the climate-controlled cockpit.

 _No one will stand against us_ , he thinks again.

They weave together their hopes and their promises into the most secret parts of their minds. _Remember. Remember this, whatever happens._

*

When they land on Exegol and leave the Whisper, they see a rectangular black spacecraft and six figures in black nearby. Rey recognizes the Knights of Ren as lightning flashes around them.

“My Knights,” Kylo says addressing them, demeanor becoming more formal. “This is Rey. Follow her as you would follow me.” The Knights bow fluidly, and fan out around the pair.

They walk into what seems to be a giant crack at the base of a huge cliff face. The entire place resounds with the Dark Side of the Force, flowing through Rey and Kylo and their wide-open bond, and to a lesser extent through the Knights.

No one bothers them as they walk through the halls, then descend on a giant disk tethered to chains into an even larger space. Huge carved statues of ancient Sith surround them, illuminated in faint blue-grey light.

 _Too quiet,_ thinks Rey.

 _Palpatine is expecting us,_ thinks Kylo. _When we find him, don't let him talk. Don't let him delay._

She can tell they are getting closer. Somewhere ahead of them, the Force is _concentrated._

They arrive in a huge arena. Rey has a brief glimpse of robed figures filling the upper levels. The rhythmic chanting of a thousand voices resounds in her chest. Kylo's hand grasps hers tightly, and she lets the bond open to the point she can barely tell which sensations are hers and which are his.

On the other side of the immense space from the crowd of figures, where she knew it would be, is a huge throne made of black stone, designed like an unfolding flower with spikes for petals. A long black crane hangs next to it, supporting a figure in a black hooded robe. Red robed figures stand around the edges of the central space. The knights spread out facing them, but no one moves.

She's seen all of this before, in a dream. Or Kylo has. There is so little difference now.

The chanting grows louder. “At last, you have come to me. Long have I waited for this day,” says Palpatine, in a dry abrasive voice like a X'us'R'iia. “But. I only needed one of you. Only one of you shall ascend.”

They do not gloat at how little he knows. Anakin's saber is in her right hand. Kylo's saber is in his left. Their other hands are still joined, and where the bond was once merely a live wire between them, it is a bolt of lightning now. The Force hums around them drowning out all other sounds as they walk toward the figure on the crane.

Hand in hand, they strike true.

The Dark Side surges through them. A thousand voices hiss around them. The accumulated knowledge of the Sith whispers, seeking a foothold. They are stronger. The Rule of Two is a pale imitation of their dyad.

 _Careful_. A warning then, from one to the other. It would be easy to be overconfident. It would be worse than deadly.

Instead they breathe, and open themselves even more to the Force.

The legacies of the Sith are huge, a burden of stories. Those who built this sanctuary reached so far. They found this Vergence, this crack between worlds.

They did not reach far enough.

The blue-lit room and the throne and the corpse in front of them fall away. Around them they see the void of space, the emptiness between stars and planets. It is immense, and cold, and inconceivably older than all life. When the last living thing in the universe breathes its last, when the last star dies, it will be there waiting. It is the truth that, when grasped, can drive those who travel in hyperspace too long mad. The whispers of the Sith are lost in this endless silence. There is no longer anything separating Kylo and Rey from the rest of the universe. There is nothing for Palpatine to hold on to. His significance and his spirit fade away to nothing, and with him the generations of Sith that went before.

The Dark is deep, and immense, and the myriad stars are the tiniest pinpricks. Brief lives, and they go out, becoming cold, or exploding, or collapsing into points of devouring Dark themselves. Stillness and emptiness reign.

Except. Except that the emptiness is not complete. Sometimes, something new coalesces from clouds of gas and dust. Over the long, patient timescale of the Universe tiny grains cohere. The decay of old stars seeds the life of new ones. The supernovae, the flares before the coming of the inevitable Dark, create waves and eddies in clouds of dust and gas. Gravity does the rest, slowly, as matter clumps together and heats up.

Stars are born together, in great clusters, and then sometimes move apart. Still, they keep companions, in systems bound together by gravity.

In the void surrounding them, Rey and Kylo coalesce, a perfect binary star system. Here. Now. This lifetime. They will burn bright in passion, and their darkness will devour. Their bond is the tug of gravity between them, and they have no desire to escape.

Their bond brings them back to themselves, to flesh and blood again. The vision fades. The Dark pours through them, and swirls away, back to the void from which it sprang.

They are human. Their lungs breathe the cold air of Exegol. Their feet stand strong on the stone, still humming with the Force. Their hands are tightly clasped.

_Remember._

The promises woven into the deepest parts of their minds awaken.

_Remember._

Kylo's presence is strong and solid beside her. The room is completely silent. When Rey glances around the space, all of the figures in the upper levels have disappeared.

She senses a huge fleet in the sky above them, arrayed and ready.

Before them, the Knights of Ren and the red-robed guards are all kneeling.

The only voices in Kylo's and Rey's minds are each others.

_We will rule together._

_I love you._

_I love you._

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Twitter as @midwintersprin1. Come say hi!
> 
> You can read all of the Pablo Nerudo poem the title comes from here.
> 
> The moodboard includes an actual image of binary stars forming, which you can learn more about [here](https://www.sciencealert.com/for-the-first-time-stunning-images-reveal-the-complex-birth-of-binary-stars).
> 
> Major inspiration for the final scenes of this fic comes from Seo Helrune's talk about psychopomp work during the "Flora, Fauna, and the Witch" online conference. A bit also comes from Miss Bliss's ["Nothing, Everything"](https://twitter.com/MissBliss1294/status/1219139853587308545) comic, which I love. I also took some inspiration for Rey and Kylo's "failsafe" from _City of Illusions_ by Ursula K. LeGuin.
> 
> While looking up quotes for title inspiration, I came across [this one](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1111552-there-is-a-wide-yawning-black-infinity-in-every-direction) from Carl Sagan, which has an interesting provenance, apparently.


End file.
